PIONEER ASTRONAUT LAUNCHES SCHEME FOR SYDNEY
AUSTRALIA’S first astronaut Paul Scully-Power will lead a high-powered NSW Government bid group to build the country’s inaugural space agency in Sydney.
Mr Scully-Power will advise the State Government on how to host the Australian Space Agency, Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced yesterday.
The 73-year-old flew on the space Shuttle Challenger in 1984, after being selected by NASA to be a payload specialist on the 13th Space Shuttle for eight days and 133 orbits.
The former astronaut joined Ms Berejiklian at Sydney Observatory yesterday morning.
This month, the Federal Government pledged initial funding of $15 million to get the agency off the ground on July 1, with the Turnbull Government predicting the industry will be worth $12 billion by 2030. It is understood the NSW Government will attempt to link its bid for the headquarters with Sydney’s new “Aerotropolis”, which is being built around the new Badgerys Creek airport.